New Hampshire Elects Nation's First Out Trans Lawmaker

Neither Congress nor any state legislature has any out transgender lawmakers currently. When Stacie Laughton goes to the New Hampshire House, that will change.
Chris Geidner
Posted Nov 8, 2012 1:55pm EST

New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to elect an out transgender person to its statehouse on Tuesday, when Stacie Laughton won a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

She only will be one of 400 House members, but she told The (Nashua) Telegraph that she hoped her election would inspire others.

"I believe that at this point, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community will hopefully be inspired," she said. "My hope is that now maybe we’ll see more people in the community running, maybe for alderman. Maybe in the next election, we’ll have a senator."

Voters have never before elected an out transgender person to a state legislature or to the U.S. Congress, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which works to support out LGBT candidates and political appointees ...